Composition of the Court

The judges are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from lists of three candidates proposed by each State. They are elected for a non-renewable term of nine years.

Although judges are elected in respect of a State, they hear cases as individuals and do not represent that State. They are totally independent and cannot engage in any activity that would be incompatible with their duty of independence and impartiality.

Assistant Judge and Associate Judge at the Administrative Court of Appeal and its courts of first instance, Stockholm, 1987-1993

Lecturer in Constitutional and Administrative Law, Faculty of Law, University of Stockholm, 1993-1994

Legal Adviser and Deputy Director in the Division of Constitutional Law of the Swedish Ministry of Justice, 1994-2003

Member and Chairperson of the Council of Europe Group of Specialists on Access to Official Information under the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), 1998-2000, 2004-2008

Assignments from the Council of Europe as expert as regards legislative projects in various Member States in Central and Eastern Europe and missions as part of the Council of Europe’s activities for development and consolidation of democratic stability in Member States, 1998-2005

Director and Head of the Pardons Division of the Swedish Ministry of Justice, 2002-2005

Sweden’s representative in the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Legal Cooperation (CDCJ), 2002-2005

Senior Judge and Head of Division at the County Administrative Court, Stockholm, 2005-2007

Chief Judge and Head of Division at the Administrative Court of Appeal, Stockholm, 2007-2011

Lecturer, Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, 1999-2010

Director of the School of French law, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, 2000-2012

Member of the European Scientific Council (European Group of Public Law), since 2006

Habilitation in law, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, 2009

Member of a Committee of experts appointed by the President of the first house of the Parliament (Sejm) for the preparation of a draft of a new chapter of the Polish Constitution on the European Union membership, 2009-2010

Professor at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, since 2010

Director of the Coordination Centre for Foreign Law Schools, 2010-2012

Associate member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, since 2012

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 2012.

Valeriu

Griţco

Republic of Moldova

Judge

Born on 22 February 1959 in Mîndîc, Donduseni district, Republic of Moldova

Law Degree, Faculty of Law, State University, 1975-1980

Lecturer in Civil and Civil Procedure Law, State University, 1980-1983 and 1986-1987

Doctorate in Law and post-graduate studies, All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Soviet Legislation of the USSR Ministry of Justice, Moscow, Russian Federation, 1983-1986

District Judge, Chisinau, 1987-1991

Lawyer, member of the Bar Association of the Republic of Moldova (since 1991), member of the Board of the Bar Association (since 2003)

Legal advisor of many national and foreign banks and companies (1995-2011)

Chairman of the Qualification Commission (1999-2003), Vice-President of the Bar Association (2003-2007)

Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, since 2005

Observing Member of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2010-2012

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 2 January 2013.

Dmitry

Dedov

Russian Federation

Judge

Born on 22 February 1967, in the city of Novograd-Volynskiy, Zhitomir oblast, USSR

Studies in law, Moscow State University, Law school, 1984-1991

PhD, Moscow State University, Law school, 1994

Expert at the Russian Constitutional Court and the Russian Government, 2000-2005

Docent and Professor, Moscow State University, 2004-2010

Head of the Legislation department, Russian Supreme Commercial Court, 2005-2008

Doctor of law, 2006

Judge, Russian Supreme Commercial Court, 2008-2012

Professor, Center for Transnational Legal Studies, London, 2010

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 2 January 2013.

Faris

Vehabović

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Judge

Born on 23 May 1967 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Law Degree, Faculty of Law, University of Sarajevo, 1987-1993

Trainee, European Commission of Human Rights, 1998

Legal expert, Office of the Ombudsperson for Human Rights, 1996-2000

Bar Exam, 2001

Registrar, Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2001-2007

Master Degree in European Studies, Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies in European Studies, University of Bologna and University of Sarajevo, 2003-2005

Judge (2007-2012), Vice-President (2008-2012), Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Member of Association of Judges of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Lecturer, Centres for Education of Judges and Prosecutors of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska

Member of the Board, Center for human Rights, University of Sarajevo

Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights, 2010-2012

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 3 December 2012.

Egidijus

Kūris

Lithuania

Judge

Born on 26 October 1961, in Vilnius, Lithuania

M.A. in law, Vilnius University, 1984

PhD in law, Moscow State University, 1988

Habilitation, Vilnius University, 2008

Assistant lecturer (1984-1985, 1988-1991), Senior Lecturer (1991-1992), Associate professor (1992-1994), Professor and Head (2008-2009), Department of Theory and History of State and Law; Professor and Head (2009-2013), Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Vilnius University

Advisor, State Re-Establishment Committee, Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, 1990-1991

Member, legal professionals’ group for drafting the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, 1992

Associate Professor (1992-2002), Professor (2002-2013) and Director (1992-1999), Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University

Assistant to the President, Constitutional Court of Lithuania, 1993-1997

President, Lithuanian Political Science Association, 1995-1998

Justice (1999-2008) and President (2002-2008), Constitutional Court of Lithuania

President (as president of the constitutional court presiding at the Conference), Conference of the European Constitutional Courts, 2005-2008

President of the Council, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, 2005-2009

Associate Member, International Academy of Comparative Law, since 2012

Member, Permanent Commission for the Assessment of Activities of Judges (Lithuania), 2012-2013

Member, Advisory Board, Ministry of Health (Lithuania), 2013

External Advisor to the Minister of Justice (Lithuania), 2013

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 2013.

Robert

Spano

Iceland

Section President

Born on 27 August 1972, in Reykjavik, Iceland

Cand. jur. degree in Law (combined BA and Masters Degrees), Faculty of Law, University of Iceland 1997

Adjunct Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, 2000-2002

Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, 2002-2004

District Court Judge, 2004

Deputy to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, 2001-2004

Member of the Board, Human Rights Institute, University of Iceland, 2005-2013

Chairman of the Standing Committee of Experts on Criminal Law, Ministry of Justice, 2003-2008 and 2011-2013

Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, (tenure) 2004-2006

Editor of the Law Review, Lawyers' Association of Iceland, 2005-2013

Professor of Public Law, Criminal Procedure and Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, (tenure) 2006

Chairman of a Commission of Experts appointed by the Prime Minister of Iceland to investigate human rights abuses from 1947-1992 in child care institutions run by the state and municipal governments, 2007-2012

Chairman of a Commission of Experts elected by the Assembly of the National Church of Iceland to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by the former Bishop of Iceland, 2010-2011

Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, 2007-2010

Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Iceland, 2010-2013

Member of the Judicial Supervisory Board, 2011-2013

Independent Expert to the Lanzarote Committee of the Council of Europe, 2012

Icelandic Member of the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDCP), 2012-2013

Founding member of the Board, Access to Information Foundation, Sofia, 1996 and 2002

Member of the Legal Advisory Committee of the European Roma Rights Centre, 1998-2010

Member of the Board, Media Development Center, Sofia, 2000-2003

Member of the Board, Open Society Institute, Sofia, 2001-2004

Lecturer and trainer for extensive training meant for practising lawyers on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, since 2001

Member of the Board, Mental Disability Advocacy Center, Budapest, 2002-2006

Head of a working group with the task of drafting a strategy for institutional reform aimed at improving the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, Ministry of Justice of Bulgaria, 2007-2008

Member of a working group drafting the first legal aid legislation, 2009

Member of the Board, Open Society Justice Initiative, New York, 2011-2015

Development and implementation of a web-based training course for practising lawyers, Council of Europe, 2012-2013

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 13 April 2015.

Síofra

O’Leary

Ireland

Judge

Born on 20 September 1968, in Dublin, Ireland

Bachelor of Civil Law, University College Dublin, 1986-1989

PhD on European law, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 1989-1993

Lectures addressing practitioners, government agencies and academics on fundamental rights, EU law and European Court of Justice practice and procedure, 1992-2014

Visiting Fellow, Department of Public International Law, University of Cádiz, Spain, 1994-1995

Research Associate, Institute for Public Policy Research, London, 1994-1996

Assistant Director of the Centre for European Legal Studies, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1995-1996

Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1995-1996

Référendaire, Court of Justice of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 1996-1999

Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Law, University College Dublin, Ireland, 1999-2004

Référendaire and Chef de cabinet, Court of Justice of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2000-2004

Visiting Professor, Department of Law, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, since 2003

Administrator, Research and Documentation Directorate, Court of Justice of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2004-2005

Référendaire and Chef de cabinet, Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2005-2012

Member of the Editorial and Advisory Boards of the Common Market Law Review, since 2012 and 2015

Head of Unit, Research and Documentation Directorate, Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2012-2015

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 2 July 2015.

Roderick

Liddell

United Kingdom

Registrar

Born on 16 March 1955, in Lingfield, United Kingdom

Law studies, Oxford University, United Kingdom, 1974-1977

Lawyer-linguist, Court of Justice of the European Communities, 1982-1987

Translator with the Council of Europe, 1987-1988 and the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, 1988-1994

Assistant to the President of the Court, 1995-1998

Legal and Executive Assistant to the President on the establishment of the single Court, 1998-2000

Head of the Private Office of the President, 2000-2003

Head of External Relations and Communication of the Court, Deputy to the Registrar, 2003-2006

Section Registrar, 2006

Director of Common Services of the Court, 2006-2015

Deputy Registrar ad interim from 8 July to 30 November 2015

Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 December 2015.

Carlo

Ranzoni

Liechtenstein

Judge

Born on 2 November 1965, in St. Gallen, Switzerland

Master of Law, University of St. Gallen, 1985-1989

Attorney’s license, bar exam in St. Gallen, 1992

Legal assistant, Court of Appeal, St. Gallen, 1992-2000

Judge, Court of Justice of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, 2001-2015

Member of the Association of Jurists St. Gallen, since 1991

Member of the Liechtenstein Association of Judges, since 2001

Collaboration in numerous Liechtenstein working groups on legislative reforms, 2003-2015

Member (2003-2015), Head (2011-2015) of the Liechtenstein expert group against sexual abuse of children and juveniles

Member of the Swiss Association of Criminal Law, since 2004

Member of the Swiss Group of Criminology, since 2006

Liechtenstein representative at the Council of Europe Committees of experts PC-ES on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse, 2006-2007, and CAHVIO on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, 2009-2010

Member of the Liechtenstein delegations presenting national reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006, and the UN Human Rights Council, 2008

Liechtenstein representative at the European Committee on Crime Problems of the Council of Europe (CDPC), 2007-2015

Liechtenstein Deputy Member at the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE), 2008-2015, and the Council of Europe Committee of the parties to the Lanzarote Convention (T-ES), 2013-2015

Member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of European Law (ERA), since 2008, President 2011-2016

Member of the Advisory Board of the Law Faculty, University of Helsinki, 2011-2015

Member of a committee set up by the Ministry of Justice of Finland for reforms in the justice system, 2012-2015

Member of the panel provided for by article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, mandated to give an opinion on the suitability of candidates to perform the duties of judge or advocate general of the Court of Justice or the General Court, since 2014

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 January 2016.

Georgios

Serghides

Cyprus

Judge

Born on 28 June 1955 in Nicosia, Cyprus

Law degree, University of Athens, Greece, 1978

Cyprus Bar Exams, 1985

Course on Anglo-Cypriot Legal Studies, University of Leicester, 1988-1989

Ph.D. in private international law, University of Exeter, United Kingdom, 1984

Ph.D. in comparative administrative law, University of Athens, Greece, 1998

Ph.D. in comparative family law, University of Salonica, Greece, 2007

Ph.D. in the European Convention on Human Rights and comparative constitutional law, University of Thrace, Greece, 2015

Practising Advocate before all courts in Cyprus, 1985-1990

Judge (1990-1999), President (1999-2016) of the Family Court in Cyprus

International Hague Network Judge for Cyprus in abduction of children cases, 2000-2016

Cyprus Liaison in the European judicial network in family matters (2006-2016) and Cyprus family law expert for the purposes of the ERA’s training modules on European family law (2012-2016)

Cyprus Judicial Liaison for asylum matters (2013-2016)

Lecturer and Head of the Law Department of Philips College, Cyprus, 1986-1990

Secretary and Lecturer of the Cyprus Council of Legal Education, 1985-1990

Head of the Department of prosecuting perpetrators of criminal acts from the area of organised crime and corruption, Public Prosecution Office, Skopje, 2004-2008

Member of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) within the Council of Europe, 2006-2017

Public Prosecutor, Public Prosecution Office, Skopje, 2009

Head of the Basic Public Prosecution Office for prosecuting organised crime and corruption, Skopje, 2009-2017

Master’s Degree of Science in Criminal Law, University of Skopje, 2011

Ph.D in criminal law, University of Skopje, 2013

Professor, State University of Štip, 2013-2017

President of the Commission for harmonisation of penal policy, 2015

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 February 2017.

Jolien

Schukking

Netherlands

Judge

Born on 9 August 1967 in Noordoostpolder, The Netherlands

Master’s degree in Law, University of Leiden, 1992

Lawyer, Administrative Jurisdiction Division, Council of State, The Hague, 1993-1998

Lawyer, former European Commission of Human Rights, Strasbourg, 1996

Agent for the Kingdom of The Netherlands, representing the government before the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies, International Law Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,The Hague, 1998-2007

Member (1998-2007) and Chair (2006-2007) of the Committee of Experts for the development of Human Rights (DH-DEV), Council of Europe

Member of the Group of Specialists on Human Rights and Fight against terrorism (DH-S-TER), Council of Europe, 2006

Guest lecturer on human rights law at the Netherlands Institute for training of Magistrates (SSR), at the High School of Justice (HSoJ) of Georgia (2007) and at several Dutch universities, 2004-2016

Substitute-Judge, Regional Court of Rotterdam, 2006-2013

Member of the Bar of The Hague (Advocaat), 2007-2009

Judge, Regional Court of Utrecht, 2009-2013

Member of the Board of the Foundation Judges for Judges, 2009-2017

Member of the editorial board of the Netherlands Human Rights Law Journal, 2010-2017

Member of the Advisory Committee of the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM), 2010-2017

Member of the International Association for Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ), since 2010

Judge, Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry, 2013-2017

Expert to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) mission on strengthening the Judiciary in the Russian Federation, 2014 and 2016

Member of the panel provided for by article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, mandated to give an opinion on the suitability of candidates to perform the duties of judge or advocate general of the Court of Justice or the General Court, 2010-2015

Research Professor in political science, National Public Service University, since 2015

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy, Malta and San Marino, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Commerce, 2016-2017

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 24 April 2017.

Lado

Chanturia

Georgia

Judge

Born on 14 April 1963 in Tsalenjikha, Georgia

Graduated in Law, Faculty of law, State University of Tbilisi, 1985

Ph.D. post-graduate fellowship at the Moscow Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law, 1986-1989

Judges of the Court since 1959

Ad hoc Judges

When the national judge does not sit in the case because of inability, withdrawal or exemption, an ad hoc judge is appointed by the President of the Court from a list submitted in advance by the government concerned.

Single Judges

Sections

Last updated: 08/01/2018

A Section is an administrative entity and a Chamber is a judicial formation of the Court within a given Section.
The Court has 5 Sections in which Chambers are formed. Each Section has a President, a Vice-President and a number of other judges.

Deputy Section Registrar

Section V

President

Vice-President

Section Registrar

Claudia Westerdiek

Deputy Section Registrar

Milan Blasko

Grand Chamber

Practice of the Grand Chamber Panel

This document describes the general practice followed by the Panel of the Grand Chamber when deciding on requests for referral in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention. It includes statistics, an explanation of Article 43 of the Convention and examples of case-law.